


And The Sun Rises

by Masterweaver



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Hiatus Fanfic that probably won't be canon but hey!, Post-Volume 7 (RWBY), We got to keep ourselves sane somehow right?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22924516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterweaver/pseuds/Masterweaver
Summary: In the immediate aftermath of Salem's arrival, the Happy Huntresses scramble to do their job......their hearts screaming all the while.
Relationships: Robyn Hill/Fiona Thyme
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Specks in the Wind

The creatures of Grimm grew as they aged.

They grew spikes.

They grew smarter.

They grew sizable.

Any one would make them more dangerous. All three, even as slow as they were individually, combined to make elder Grimm more deadly. A deadliness that could multiply if they were allowed to command their lessers, to lead a pack. No matter how large a Grimm started out as, it could always get larger, craftier, nastier.

Even knowing this, even after having it hammered in during classes, even after fighting some truly nasty Megoliaths herself, even after seeing the recordings of the great wyvern that assailed Beacon, some part of Fiona tried desperately to convince the rest of her that the great form in the sky, half again as massive as Atlas itself, _could not possibly be real._

“…shit,” said May, her voice as calm as a lake that had been drained to the bedrock. “I’m not going to ask if any of you can see that too–”

“We can see it,” Joanna assured her, tone resigned. Without any real intent, she brought her binoculars to her eyes. “Looks like a whale. Purple crystals in it… I guess it could be gravity dust. And… there are lot of winged Beringels around it.”

Fiona’s ears twitched, and she tore her gaze from the impossibility above her (it _couldn’t_ have grown that big, the kingdoms would have _united_ to hunt down such a monstrosity) toward the side roads. A small group of Sabyrs emerged from an alleyway, and she readied her staff–but they didn’t even glance at the huddled and terrified civilians behind her. No, they looked up, the gleaming fire in their eyes sparking as the roared, a roar returned by screeches from above.

“What–?” May turned to look as they rushed down the road. “Oh, that isn’t normal…”

“You’re not hiding us from them?”

“This large a crowd?” May shook her head. “Way outside my scope. Best guess is it’s got something to do with giganto up there.”

“Makes sense.” Joanna’s tone was as level as the tundra after a snowstorm. She lowered her binoculars. “…it’s headed for Atlas.”

Fiona hissed a sharp breath, looking up at the island. “Robyn… she was taking that murderer up there, last I heard.”

“She was, yeah. But…“ May put a hand on her shoulder. “Fiona, I don’t think we can expect any more airships from Atlas. Robyn… might not be able to make it back.”

“What?” One of the haggard children looked at her. “Robyn Hill isn’t coming back?”

“Of course she’s not,” muttered a woman. “She’s trapped up there with the rich idiots that thing is about to chow down on.”

A man giggled hysterically. “Eat the rich, they said! I don’t think they meant it like this but there you are!”

Joanna slammed her staff into the ground. “That’s enough! We WILL make it through this!”

“Really?! LOOK AT THAT!” A finger jabbed skyward. “LOOK AT THAT AND–”

“Atlas will take it down,” May stated firmly. “It’ll take them a bit to do it, but that whole airfleet they’ve got set up isn’t just for Ironwood’s vanity. Right now, we need to figure out how to survive until they do.”

“But…” One of the children looked at a nearby wall. “The heating is still not working. We… we’d freeze if we stayed here, right? And with all the Grimm and the fighting…”

She trailed off, her teary eyes turning up to the three of them, piercing through Fiona’s denial and fear. The huntress forced her ears up even as she knelt down, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Then we’ll go someplace else,” she said firmly, her mind kicking back into gear. “Amity Colosseum is big and has its own heating systems.”

“…Yeah, and it’s parked next to that Dust mine,” May added with a nod. “That should cover our resources for a while. Not sure about food and water–”

Joanna huffed a laugh. “It’s got those biomes, right? I’m from a tundra village, I know a few things about farming.”

“It–it’s a flying thing!” the man protested. “We don’t have any airships, you said that–”

Something buzzed on Fiona’s belt. It took her a moment to realize it was her scroll, and she whipped it out as rapidly as she shot up. “Robyn?!”

_“No, sorry, it’s just Ruby.”  
_

“Oh…”

_“Look, a lot–a lot just happened,”_ Ruby admitted, _“and we need a place to lay low. Blake mentioned that you have a hideout–”  
_

“Wait,” May interjected. “You were in Atlas, are you calling from an airship?”

_“Yeah–it’s just a Manta, though–”  
_

“That’s good enough. We’re just about to set out to Amity with whoever’s left in Mantle, if you can fly ahead–”

_“Get everyone in Amity?”_ said an older voice. _“…yes, yes, it would work. It might be a tight fit, and we’d have to shuttle them up with multiple Manta trips, but… I think I might be able to do it.”  
_

A grateful smile spread across Fiona’s face. “Thank you, doctor Polendina.”

_“I would like to assist in gathering the citizens.”  
_

Joanna’s eyes went wide. “Penny?”

_“I’d be able to cover a lot of ground and… find anyone you might have missed.”  
_

_“Penny–”_ Ruby began, worry clear in her voice. She fell silent for a moment, before speaking again. _“Keep low, and… be safe.”_

_“I will. I promise.”_

Even through the scroll, Fiona could hear the softness of the tone. What had happened up in Atlas?

When Penny spoke again, it was professional and to the point. _“Miss Thyme, I will direct anybody I find toward the eastern gates. Is this acceptable?”_

“That’ll work,” she agreed. “Keep your comms open, if… if you can.”

_“Affirmative. Disembarking now.”_ The burst of sound and wind from the scroll was matched by a streak of green shooting overhead, quickly darting into the city some distance away.

_“We’ll drop a few of us off at the east wall before we go,”_ Ruby offered. _“You know, to protect whoever comes–”  
_

“Do you know where Robyn is?”

For a moment, the scroll was silent.

_“…If she’s still with uncle Qrow,”_ Ruby finally said, _“then… well, she’s probably in a lot of danger, but he knows a lot about what’s going on and has a few tricks up his sleeve.”  
_

“I…” Fiona swallowed. “I see. She’d want these people safe anyway,” she said, half to the others.

“You should go to the hideout,” Joanna suggested. “Get what you can from there, for the trip.” Leave a message, she didn’t need to say. “We can protect these people.”

“Right. Right!” Fiona put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. “Okay people, listen up! We need food, we need supplies, and we need vehicles, and I don’t care if they’re tundra-rated or not! Trucks, cars, trailers, skateboards, if it has wheels we can tie it to something that can drive. Loot what you can from the city but don’t stop moving till you hit the east gate, got it?”

“We’re…” A woman stared at her. “We’re abandoning Mantle?”

Fiona looked up, just as the first airships began to pepper the Grimm with their guns and missiles.

“…No. We’re relocating so we can take it back.”


	2. Might Sometimes be Seeds

“Keep it moving, people! Dust and weapons go on open-air trucks, blankets and food go in the enclosed ones! Anybody who’s a kid or good with kids, go to Joanna and–”

A massive THOOM overrode May’s orders, shouts and screams briefly rising from the crowd as they took in the sight of a capital airship falling apart in explosion after explosion. The huntress swallowed, her mind flashing unwillingly back to her academy days, where a teacher had said over a hundred soldiers could serve on one such vessel…

She tore her eyes away from the streaking scrap, back to the crowd. “QUIT GAWKING AND MOVE IT!” Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t keep a bit of warble out of her voice, but at least it got the crowd moving.

Even if they were soldiers, rendered idiots by Ironwood’s indoctrinations, everyone on that ship had been a person… maybe even somebody May had gone to the academy with…

“Damn it all,” she muttered, forcing her tears back.

Her scroll beeped to life. _“Another hundred,”_ reported Weiss. _“That’s fifteen–plus the thirteen hundred or so that got to Atlas before Salem got here.”_

“Twenty eight out of sixty…” May watched another convoy go. “We’re not going to be able to make this in one trip.”

Joanna tapped into the call. _“I’ve been talking to some people who moved in from the tundra,”_ she informed them. _“They’ve got some tricks, they’ll keep anybody we leave behind this time alive for a bit.”_

_“It’s going to get harder to come back after today,”_ Ruby muttered. _“We’ll need to hide the convoys from Salem–”  
_

“We’ll figure it out,” May assured her, and herself. “This group’s about loaded up now–Penny, where are you?”

_“Headed your way with a group of twenty-seven. Three children, five elders, two in need of medical assistance. E.T.A. seven minutes.”  
_

“We’ll pack them up and head out as soon as you get here,” May decided, her voice laced with reluctance. “Joanna, where are your tundra buddies setting up shop?”

_“Corner of Fifth street and Promenade, in the Crater Cafe.”  
_

“Good call.” May cleared her throat. “EVERYONE LISTEN UP! We’re leaving in ten minutes! If you’re can’t get in a vehicle by then, get to the Crater Cafe on Promenade Avenue–somebody will be back for you later!”

Her announcement was backed by another loud THOOM. She glanced up, finding another capital ship falling–this one falling over the southern quarter–

“Shit!” She pulled out her scroll. “Fiona! Where are you?!”

_“Third street–”  
_

“There’s an airship falling toward your location–!”

_“I see it, I–”_ Fear was palpable in the huntress’s voice. _“I can take shelter and–”_

_“I’m going after her,”_ Penny announced. _“Keep headed east, everyone, I’ll be back soon!”_

May winced at the sudden roar of noise from the scroll, which overrode whatever it was Ruby shouted. For a moment, the comms were a din of wind and rockets, and all she could do was stare at the metal mass breaking up and streaking into the buildings in the distance. She cringed as the first bit of slag impacted the rooftops, praying the gravity Dust in the main body would slow down the rest enough for–

_“Eeep!”  
_

_“I have retrieved miss Thyme, returning to civilians.”_

May let out a sigh of relief. “You’re really something else, Penny. Never thought I’d say this, but thank god for military tech standards.”

_“Don’t thank the gods,”_ Joanna quipped. _“Thank Pietro when we get to Amity.”  
_

“Ha!” May shook her head. “Yeah, glad he’s on our side. Eight minutes, people, and keep–”

A holoscreen flashed to life without warning, the haggard general on screen looking down upon the crowd with dead eyes. “People of the kingdom of Atlas, in light of the arrival of Salem’s forces I have been forced to declare martial law. We cannot let our home fall to this army, even as they lay siege to our city. Every citizen is now required to contribute to our defense, be it through organization, manufacture, distribution, or directly joining the Atlas militia.”

Weiss groaned over the comms. _“Oh so **now** standing our ground is the brave thing to do!”_

“Wait, what?”

“I know there will be objectors,” Ironwood continued. “In fact, there already have been.”

Ten faces showed up beneath his image–many of which May recognized, and one of which made her suck in her breath sharply.

“These individuals are misguided, not evil. They are shortsighted, unable to see the necessity of certain decisions, as they have never had to endure an actual war before. Nevertheless, we must remain united, and anybody stepping out of line is to be considered a potential detriment to our safety.”

“No,” May murmured as Robyn’s profile–and that of the scruffy man–were outlined in yellow.

“Two of these people have already been brought into custody, and will serve this city under the guidance and direction of Atlas officers. One person…”

He sighed as the profile of the youngest face was outlined in red.

“…was… unfortunately the victim of an inescapable confrontation.”

Ruby’s voice, over the comms, was uncertain. _“Oscar…?”_

_“Oh no…”_ Weiss’s was filled with sorrow, but tinged with anger. _“General… what have you done?”  
_

“Any citizen who learns the location of the remaining individuals is required by law to report it to the nearest military personnel,” Ironwood concluded. “Dissent will not–cannot–be tolerated. I recognize there are still people in Mantle, and to them, I must offer my sincere apologies–but we must all make sacrifices for the greater good.”

“What the hell gives _you_ the right to decide that for us?!” May shouted at the screen. “You can’t just–!”

“This is the darkest hour for Atlas, there is no denying that. But Salem has been held… held at bay for centuries. We must remain united. We will drive her back… we _will_ drive her back.” The man on the screen said nothing more for a moment, before straightening up. “Ironwood out.”

May’s grip on her staff tightened as she glared at the spot the screen had been a moment ago.

_“…Penny…”_ Fiona’s voice over the comms was hesitant. _“Did… did you know about this?”  
_

_“…I knew Ruby was a wanted woman when I joined her on the airship. Robyn did not have an arrest warrant at that time.”  
_

_“Put me down.”  
_

_“Miss Thyme–”  
_

_“Put. Me. Down.”_

The faint wooshing sound in the scroll died down slowly.

_“…I do not agree with the general’s choices,”_ Penny said quietly. _“I… I will not abandon the people of Mantle.”  
_

Something about her voice caught May’s attention. A sort of regret, one she found slightly familiar.

_“And what about Robyn?”_ Fiona demanded. _“Are you going to–?”_

_“Penny can’t go back to Atlas,”_ Weiss interjected. _“If Salem captures her–”  
_

For a moment there was silence over the scroll.

“…what?” May demanded. “What happens if Salem captures Penny?”

_“That… it would be bad,”_ Weiss finished lamely.

“That’s it, ‘it would be bad?’ What does that even–”

_“There’s a relic,”_ Penny interrupted, _“in a vault under the academy. Right now I’m the only one that can open that vault, but if either Ironwood or Salem get ahold of me they… they could make Atlas fall. Quite literally.”  
_

May stared at her scroll in disbelief.

_“…Sounds like a story,”_ Joanna offered.

_“It is. And we’ll explain it all once we get to Amity,”_ Ruby promised. _“Fiona… I don’t know how we’re going to get Robyn and uncle Qrow back, but I swear we will. As soon as we can.”  
_

_“…she’d want these people safe,”_ Fiona murmured. _“Just… gods. I really, really want to punch Ironwood in his arrogant face.”  
_

“You’re not the only one,” May assured her gravely.


	3. They Float and They Scatter

“…My big brother is a soldier.”

Joanna glanced over her shoulder. One of the kids was sitting on a crate, her hands clutching the blanket around her as she stared up through the metal ceiling of the truck.

“He always said he was fighting to keep us safe,” she continued. “I didn’t like that he spent all his time fighting. Away from me and Dad. I didn’t say anything because he seemed so happy but… I didn’t want him to become a meaniepants like I saw in movies. And I didn’t get what he was fighting, cause he was never down in Mantle when the Grimm came.”

“They say a lot of things in Atlas Academy,” Joanna explained gently as she sat down next to her. “About duty, and loyalty, and protection. Fighting the Grimm for a living is a scary choice, so each academy needs to help the students find a way to conquer that fear. Atlas, though… the army picks up its specialists from the Academy, so there’s also the pressure to join up and be the ‘might of the kingdom.’ Whatever that means…”

“I never got it,” the girl said, not leaning into her embrace. “I never did. But now he… he’s up there. Fighting Salem… and I don’t, I don’t know if it’ll keep me safe at all. I don’t know if there’s a point, I mean.” She turned toward Joanna. “What’s Salem like? Is she focused on Atlas and just going to ignore us? Do we have to be special somehow for her to come after us? How does she get people to work with her?”

“Kid, I only heard about her today. For all I know, that giant whale is Salem.”

“The giant whale is scary,” murmured one of the other kids. “I mean, all Grimm are scary, but the whale is extra scary.”

“I kinda hope it is Salem,” said another.

“What? Why?”

“Cause if it isn’t, then Salem is _controlling_ the giant whale. And that makes her very scary.”

Joanna looked around at her charges as they fidgeted in the tight confines of the truck. It was tightly packed, so tightly that… that it was tight. But there was room for her to move, at least, room for her to find whichever child needed her the most at any time.

And right now… they all needed her.

“…Hey kids? I need you all to listen to me now.”

Most of them looked at her. Some didn’t, but from the lack of fidgeting Joanna got the impression she had their attention.

“When we get where we’re going, a lot of organizing and running about is going to happen,” she said. “Some of you are going to find your parents, or your family, and some of you are going to find older people who want to care for you and don’t have any idea how. And a lot of them, they’re all going to say the same things to you.”

She leaned back on the crate. “’It’ll be okay,’ they’ll say. ‘We’ll figure things out.’ ‘The Happy Huntresses have a plan.’ Stuff like that. They’ll want you not to worry, to think they’ve got everything handled. Some of them might actually believe what they’re saying. But the truth is, they’ll probably be as scared as you are now, if not more so.”

One of the kids frowned. “But… but why would they lie to us?”

“Because there’s this idea in their heads. You’re kids. You should be able to play and learn without having to worry about the stuff they do. To have a future that you can enjoy, guaranteed. They want to see you as… innocent. If you want to be a doctor, or a huntress, or a roboticist… sure, it would be difficult, but they don’t want you to be discouraged from following your dreams.”

Joanna put her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward. “So they’re going to try to downplay what’s going on right now. Not say it isn’t happening, but they will promise it will get better, even if they don’t know how. And it is going to get better,” she assured them quickly. “Because all of them know how to do some things, and working together we can figure out how to do a lot of things. But it’s not going to be easy and there’s a lot that we’ll need to do, and they… they don’t want you worrying about that. Worrying that whatever future you want won’t happen because Mantle and Atlas fell to the Grimm.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Yep. But it’s not just you they’re trying to not scare. It’s themselves.”

The kid tilted his head. “I… don’t get it.”

“Raising kids, taking you from little whining bundles to self-actualizing members of society over the course of years? That’s tough. Real tough.” Joanna chuckled dryly as she shook her head. “And that’s without all this. They’re going to want to know that the things they spent years working for, put their time and effort into, the things they care the most about, aren’t just going to poof into thin air.“

“You’re…” The girl on the crate hunched a little. “You’re talking about us.”

“The only thing scarier than getting eaten by a Grimm is watching your kid being eaten by one. And the only thing scarier then _that_ is being told your kid got eaten, and you didn’t even know it.” Joanna looked over the children. “Your families love you. Your moms and dads might do it the most, but yes, your brothers, your sisters, your cousins, your aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas… they’re all going to be worried about their own lives, but also your lives. And if they don’t, they’re not your families. And if you think you don’t have a family… well,” she said with a lopsided grin, “you’re going to find a lot of people willing to bring you into theirs after today.”

She took a breath. “So, when those adults come for you, and say that everything is going to be alright, you have to remember that they’re not just making that promise to you. They’re making it to themselves. They will try their darndest to make sure it comes true. And asking ‘how’–and that is a very important kind of question to ask–but asking it right _then,_ when they are still looking for some way to do what they need to, that could knock them down harder than any wind. So don’t. Say you trust them. That you love them. Hug them if you need to. Show them that you still believe in the future they can make for you.”

“…That’s why my brother is fighting, isn’t it?” The girl looked up at the ceiling. “I mean… even if it’s pointless, he thinks I’m the point.”

“Yeah.” Joanna pulled her in. “That’s why.”


End file.
